Awesome Blossoms take down Wildcats in semis

Published 11:00 pm Saturday, October 25, 2014

Blooming Prairie running back Jake Decker breaks free on the way to a second-quarter touchdown against Goodhue in the Section 1A semifinals. Eric Johnson/photodesk@austindailyherald.com

Blooming Prairie running back Jake Decker breaks free on the way to a second-quarter touchdown against Goodhue in the Section 1A semifinals. Eric Johnson/photodesk@austindailyherald.com

The Awesome Blossoms had a major first half set-back, but they didn’t let it stop them as they beat No. 3 seeded Goodhue (7-3 overall) 41-28 in the Section 1A football semifinals in BP Saturday night.

Blooming Prairie's Sam Swenson moves in to tackle Goodhue's Jacob Pasch during the second quarter Saturday night in the Section 1A semifinals in Blooming Prairie. Eric Johnson/photodesk@austindailyherald.com

Blooming Prairie’s Sam Swenson moves in to tackle Goodhue’s Jacob Pasch during the second quarter Saturday night in the Section 1A semifinals in Blooming Prairie. Eric Johnson/photodesk@austindailyherald.com

BP looked like it was about to go up 14-0 early in the game when it fumbled on Goodhue’s goal-line and the Wildcats turned that turnover into a TD drive that made it 7-7.

“That really was a momentum changer, but our kids didn’t hang their heads or anything like that,” BP head coach Chad Gimbel said of the early turnover. “They came back and fought. You play against good teams and that stuff like that is going to happen.”

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The two teams exchanged TDs again before Tristen Haberman hauled in a 2-yard TD pass with 26 seconds left in the first half to make it 21-14 BP. The Blossoms made it a 28-14 game when Jake Decker had a two-yard TD run with 7:28 left in the third quarter.

Decker had 176 yards of offense and he had four total TDs in the win for No. 2 seeded BP (10-0 overall).

The Awesome Blossoms will play in their seventh consecutive Section 1A title game when they match up with top-seeded Rushford-Peterson (9-1 overall) in RCTC Stadium in Rochester Saturday at 5:30 p.m.

BP STATS

Passing: John Rumpza, 23-for-38, 255, 3 TD; receiving: Cole Sunde, 9-for-70; Mitchell Jones, 4-for-60; Anthony Nelson, 3-for-51, TD; Jake Decker, 4-for-49, TD; Tristen Haberman, 3-for-25, TD; rushing: Jake Decker, 18-for-127, 3 TD

Blooming Prairie's Mitchell Jones is hit by Goodhue's Jacob Pasch after making a catch in the third quarter in the Section 1A semifinals Saturday night in Blooming Prairie. Eric Johnson/photodesk@austindailyherald.com

Blooming Prairie’s Mitchell Jones is hit by Goodhue’s Jacob Pasch after making a catch in the third quarter in the Section 1A semifinals Saturday night in Blooming Prairie. Eric Johnson/photodesk@austindailyherald.com